• Snack Cart Program

The VAVS is initiating a new "Snack Cart" program and needs your help in funding this effort.  Nutrition and Food Service is requesting a monthly donation of funds so that the VAVS can implement a snack card program for nursing home residents living in the Center for Restorative and Transitional Care Unit.  This program goes hand in hand with the commitment to the cultural transformation that is taking place within the VA.  The snack cart program will allow the vets to have access to some of the snack choices they would have if they were at home and will also give them some interaction with a variety of different people.

The snack cart will tour five nursing home wards at 10 AM and 2 PM at Brecksville.  The patients will be given a choice of the variety of items.

The VAVS plans to recognize the groups that donates funds for a particular time period by displaying a plaque or insignia on the snack card.

The estimated monthly cost of the snack cart program is estimated to be $4,000.00 per month.

• Golden Corral Restaurants Offering Free Buffet again this year
  
  To show their support for the U.S. Military, every Golden Corral restaurant across the country will offer a FREE BUFFET with a choice of beverage to any former or active member of the U.S. Military (including National Guard and Reservists) on Monday, November 12, 2007, 5:00 PM through 9:00 PM.
  
  For more information or for the Golden Corrals in Northern Ohio, go to http://www.goldencorral.com/military.
   
• McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant will host its first annual Veteran's Appreciation Event on Veteran's Day, Sunday, November 11, 2007.
  
  McCormick & Schmick's will offer all U.S. Military veterans a FREE entrée in appreciation for their service to our country.
  
  Cleveland's McCormick & Schmick's Restaurant at 26300 Cedar Road in Beachwood will participate in a nationwide program.  To make reservations, please call (216) 595-2886 or go to their web site at www.mccormickandschmicks.com.
   
• World Video Transfer - make a home movie for your loved one(s) overseas
  
  Mr. J. Merritt, who runs the VA Wade Park Computer Aided Education systems came up with an outstanding idea.  Mr. Merritt has already been able to obtain $18,000 worth of funding for his project.
  
  In simple terms, Mr. Merritt's project results in our soldiers overseas having the ability to get caught up with family activities.  How does this happen you ask?  Mr. Merritt's project provides families of U.S. soldiers serving abroad to obtain digital camcorders (sent by the Cleveland VA to and from the family member using the U.S. Postal Service).  Once the family member records their activities, the family member returns the camcorder to the VA.  Once the VA receives the camcorder back from the family member, within one day, the soldier is sent a private e-mail requesting the soldier to click on a link to a Cleveland VA computer server.  Once the soldier clicks on the link, the soldier is able to see a "video stream" of their loved ones engaged in all kinds of family activities.
  
  I personally think that Mr. Merritt hit a grand slam home run with this idea.  The cost per "video stream" will approximate $60 for a 5 minute steam.
  
  If you know of a family that would like to use this new service, contact Mr. Merritt at the following telephone number: 216-481-8486.
  
  In the very near future, we will be able to contribute funds to this worthwhile program to keep the program going.
   
• Do You Know About the VETERANS SERVICE COMMISSION
  
  Mr. Robert E. Erb, III, Veterans Service Officer, from the Cuyahoga County Veterans Service Commission, was one of our guest speakers at the November 8 VAVS quarterly meeting.
  
  Basically, the Veterans Service Commission (formerly known as the Soldiers Relief Commission) was established on May 19, 1886, for the purpose of assisting Honorably Discharged Veterans and their minor children, spouse, and widows, who have met with an unexpected hardship resulting from lack of employment, illness or injury.
  
  While the Veterans Service Commission is not funded by, or associated with the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs, the VSC's Service Department assists veterans and their families with VA claims.
  
  The Veterans Service Commission is legislated by the State of Ohio and funded by Cuyahoga County property taxes.  Each County VSC operates a little differently due to different levels of funding (e.g., larger County VSC's have more money to operate with).
  
  Each of the 88 Veterans Service Commissions in the State of Ohio has a board of five Commissioners created under the Ohio Revised Code, ORC 5901, who administer the programs for their respective counties
  
  Mr. Erb especially wanted all veterans to know that the Cuyahoga VSC has an on-site presence at the Wade Park VA facility.  They are located in Room C105.
  
  For more information on the VSC's services, go to www.cuyahogacounty.us and then click on the "Departments" tab, then click on the "A - Z Department Listing" and find the Veterans Service Commission link.
  
  Mr. Erb can be contacted by calling direct: 216-707-6405 or you can use the following e-mail box: vcree@cuyahogacounty.us.
   
• Bed Capacity on the Cleveland Wards - Lovel Henderson presented the following useful information for those of us visiting the Wards at Wade Park.
  
  Bed Capacities are as follows:
  
   

  W SICU	10
  DIALYSIS	20
  CCU / MIC/ TELE	16
  WARD 41	21
  WARD 42	28
  WARD 44	30
  WARD 5A	36
  WARD 5B	18
  SSU (SHORT STAY)	18
  SCI (SPINAL CORD)	32
  TOTAL	229

   

Area VA Seeing Consequences of Iraq War
by Jim Carney
Beacon Journal Staff Writer
(Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com)

Representatives meet with troops, families to discuss their benefits

Susan E. "Cricket" Gruneisen has a close-up view of the impact of war.  Susan E. "Cricket" Gruneisen of Dalton is an Air Force veteran who has worked for Veterans Affairs for 16 years.  Along with her post as coordinator of care for returning combat veterans, she also works as the office manager for the Akron Outpatient Clinic on West Waterloo Road as is the clinic administrator at the Wooster Satellite Clinic.

She is the National Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Point of Contact Coordinator for the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center.

She responded to questions after the Washington Post newspaper reported on "squalid conditions" in the outpatient facilities at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Q: The news accounts on Walter Reed have detailed difficulties faced by returning vets on dealing with the bureaucracy and paperwork from both the Department of Defense and the Veterans Affairs.  Have you seen that to be a problem?

A: The majority of troops deployed from Northeast Ohio served in the Ohio National Guard or in the reserve forces.

We have a close working relationship with the commands of these units to ensure that the service members are aware of their VA benefits.  We have been actively outreaching to the units during their drill weekends as well as being invited to attend special events where the service member's families have also been in attendance.

The local unit commanders have been very supportive of this outreach initiative.

Q: What kind of fallout, if any, has there been at the Northeast Ohio VA facilities from the Walter Reed developments in recent weeks?

A: The mission of the VA is to care for veterans; we do so with compassion and often assist veterans in other issues beyond health care.  It is important that veterans and the general community know the VA is providing the best care for those who have served, whether they served decades ago or in the global war on terror.

Q: How many Iraq and Afghanistan vets are being treated by the VA in Cleveland and how many are being treated out of the Akron Outpatient Clinic?

A: Cleveland VAMC currently has 2,210 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans enrolled and receiving care within its health-care system.  Of these 2,210, approximately 300 receive care at the Akron Clinic.

The VA is the largest health-care system in the world.  Last year, the Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC treated over 90,000 men and women.  We had nearly three-quarter of a million out-patient visits.

Q: Is the system being overwhelmed by the numbers of new wounded vets coming into the VA?

A: The VA stands ready to care for all eligible veterans.  We have 12 outpatient clinics throughout Northeast Ohio supported by the Wade Park and Brecksville Medical Centers to not only meet all the health-care needs of our veterans but to assist in addressing a variety of other needs that they may be facing.

Q: It must be very challenging and exciting time for the VA.

A: It is always a challenging and exciting time at the VA.  We are continually updating and expanding VA services to meet the needs of our veterans.

All of our community outpatient clinics continue to grow.  The Akron Clinic, for example, currently has plans to expand its physical therapy department as well as other clinical space to meet the increasing needs of our growing veteran population.  The Akron Clinic, more than any other outpatient clinic in Northeast Ohio, serves the largest population of returning Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers.

Q: Are there any typical reasons for seeking treatment for the new vets?

A: Veterans come to the VA for any number of reasons.  Some are using the VA for routine medical care, while others require more extensive therapies.  They come to the VA because we have specialists and experts in treatment and conditions unique to veterans.

Q: Are there any new clinics or expansions of existing clinics planned for Northeast Ohio?

A: There are many plans to expand our health-care services.  Recently, we have expanded our Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Calcutta, Ohio (near East Liverpool on the Ohio River).  The clinics in New Philadelphia and Warren will be relocated an will double in size.  The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center has always made it a priority to do whatever is necessary to meet the health-care needs of our veterans.